Lotus lover Sam Hunt adores his Series 1 Elise, but would he like the range-topping Esprit V8 more? With the keys to one of the last Hethel wedges ever made, he’s about to find out.
Firsts seldom come in fours. However, as an embodiment of the representative quantum leap taken over its competitors of the era, at the 1965 Indy 500, the Lotus 38 heralded just that.
Classic Cars reader Jon Ranwell has always fancied driving a Lotus Esprit ever since The Spy Who Loved Me was released. Will reality match celluloid dreams?
From blown diffusers to front-tyre-warming, toe-angle-adjusting steering columns, both born then banned in the past two decades, Formula One has been defined by relentless rule-bending engineering innovations since its inception. However, the most primal of them all doesn’t even hail from this century; it supersedes carbon fibre as F1’s go-to construction material in the 1980s.
Martin Cliffe developed the engine for the Lotus Turbo Esprit, yet he’d never owned one until recently. Today we both drive it, then compare notes on how it shapes up retrospectively.
The late racing maestro Jim Clark is still revered and adored by many – not least IndyCar legend Dario Franchitti. Here are his experiences of two very special ex-Clark Lotuses.
In October 1964, Jim Clark spoke to Small Car magazine – which soon became CAR – about his road driving technique, his opinions on the average motorist, and his Radford Lotus Elan.
The Elan transformed an ambitious Lotus from bit-part player to major engineering force. We drive this rare S1 Elan 1600, fresh from restoration, to find out how.
Ford heritage: Keith Halstead’s 1965 Lotus Cortina was the first of only eight Mk1s ever put into service with West Sussex Police — six decades later it’s better than ever.
